Sustainability in Practice: The Interpretation of Sustainable Development in a Regional Planning Arena for Dialogue and Learning in Western Sweden

This paper analyses the ways in which top administrators and planners have framed sustainable development in western Sweden and explores the impact of this framing on formal planning processes and decision making at a regional level. Three main conceptualizations of sustainable development are identified, which are here termed the “pro-market”, the “win–win” and the “interdependent” framings. While the “interdependent” framing was most influential in the region studied, the multi-level, multi-sector nature of the network ensured that it was not unchallenged. Instead, an open arena for learning and dialogue about long-term and holistic approaches to planning was established. This allowed a core definition of sustainable development that integrated environmental limits with basic human needs (long term and global) to have a real and practical impact on decision making.